Whales and dolphins face welfare threats from noise pollution, entanglement, ship strikes, and declining prey, with marine protected areas offering partial but important refuge from these pressures.
Cetacean welfare encompasses some of the most cognitively and socially complex animals on earth — animals that sing, grieve, learn culturally, and maintain social relationships across decades. The threats they face from human ocean use cause both direct welfare harm and chronic stress that compromises immune function and reproduction. Marine protected areas that restrict the most harmful activities provide meaningful welfare benefit for resident cetaceans, but truly effective protection requires addressing underwater noise, shipping routes, and fishing gear design across far larger ocean areas. The welfare case for cetacean protection is among the strongest available given their cognitive complexity and the scale of anthropogenic harm they face.